Does it matter more if a priest cheats with man or woman?

Are there different degrees of significance when a priest breaks a vow?

The challenge of celibacy for Catholic priests is back in the headlines from Miami to Milwaukee.

Last week, a popular Florida priest was sent into seclusion after photos of Rev. Alberto Cutie (koo-tee-ay) in a romantic seaside romp with a woman were published in tabloid. Now, former Archbishop of Milwaukee Rembert Weakland, once beloved by Catholic progressives for his social activism, has told Rachel Zoll of the Associated Press about his decades-long struggle with the homosexual desires that led to a costly scandal.

He was forced to resign in 2002 after it came to light he paid $450,000 to seminarian, a man Weakland once wrote that he loved, who accused him of sexual assault. The details are coming out in his new memoir, to be released next month, A Pilgrim in a Pilgrim Church: Memoirs of a Catholic Archbishop.

Zoll notes that:

U.S. Catholics have long debated whether the priesthood had become a predominantly gay vocation. Estimates vary from 25% to 50%, according to a review of research on the issue by the Rev. Donald Cozzens.

I know a lot of good priests who are struggling with celibacy. It's more the loneliness than the absence of a full sexual life. The time is coming for us to openly discuss optional celibacy.

So we have two cases here of breaking the celibacy vows: Cheating with men. Cheating with women. (Unlike the grievous clergy sexual abuse scandal, neither case involves children or teens.)

The Catholic church sees both as moral sins. However, homosexual behaviors are considered a break with natural law, because they "violate the true purpose of sexuality. They are sexual acts that cannot be open to life, according to the church's teachings on ministry to homosexuals. (Full document here.)

DO YOU THINK... the issue is celibacy or the ability to keep a vow? How good are most of us in this high-divorce-rate nation at keeping our vows?

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About Cathy Lynn Grossman

Cathy Lynn Grossman is too fidgety to meditate. But talking about visions and values, faith and ethics lights her up. Join in at Faith & Reason. More about Cathy.